2013 I&E Summer Scholars Projects - Technology Management

1.OPTIMIZING THE CURRENT TELEHEALTH PROGRAM AT THE VNAHG

To evaluate the current alignment of the existing TeleHealth systems with the current goals of the VNAHG in order to improve and optimize efficacy and quality of patient care.

Current status of the work if work is already underway either by the student, faculty advisor or others as well as referencing any work being conducted by others that summer in the same research area.

Currently the project is in the initial phase of project design. A student has been working with the CEO of the VNAHG in order to better define the goals of the project in terms of success criteria. Currently, this work is conducted on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 pm, and can continue fully with both on-site and on-campus work throughout the week in the summer.

First, the student will become familiar with the telehealth systems that are employed by both the VNAHG and other healthcare companies. This will be completed before in the initial stage of the summer research begins. Secondly, the student will evaluate the state of telehealth in the VNAHG. This includes a survey of the current systems being employed and their effectiveness in reducing costs. This will result in an inventory of current systems and a several possible proposals for future adoption. After one proposal is chosen, the student will prepare a more in depth action plan in order to optimize patient care and improve business resource allocation.

Indicate the potential commercial value the research project may have, who would be a potential customer and how it satisfies customer needs.

VNAHG is the largest provider of home and community healthcare in The State of New Jersey. VNAHG provides comprehensive home health, hospice, palliative and community-based care to over 120,000 individuals state-wide. With a large Medicare and geriatric population, VNAHG has the task of treating these patients with an increased cost of patient care. Telehealth, an innovative way to reduce costs of healthcare and increase patient satisfaction outcomes, could be instrumental if effectively used by the VNAHG and could result in savings in the millions of dollars not only to the company, but to the health care system in its entirety.

2.VETERANS HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES- THE SECOND STAGE OF YELLOW RIBBON PROGRAMS

As a leader in the national Yellow Ribbon Program for returning Veterans, Stevens has been fortunate in providing educational opportunities for nearly 100 Veterans while making many innovative contributions to education and development in The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Centers.

With the de-escalation of the military and thankfully, reduced combat theaters for American involvement, the Defense Department and VA are re-engineering programs while attempting to not diminish the support provided to Veterans in both educational and healthcare provision.

This project will require the successful student to research current and emergent national trends and programs in both sectors. Then, with an examination of the current programs at Stevens, help generate a strategic plan that will assist our current Yellow Ribbon Program in creating new partnerships and other support initiatives as we enter a new era in this traditional mission commitment at Castle Point.